A detailed examination of "swaps" - customized contracts for an exchange of interest or principal payments as a means of transferring risk. The text demonstrates how complex financial structures can be built by utilizing a number of swaps and related instruments.

From plain vanilla swaps to swaptions to circus swaps?here's the most comprehensive, practical introduction to the global world of swaps Understanding Swaps Financial personnel, corporate treasurers and professional cash managers seeking a practical, hands-on introduction to swaps?sophisticated financial instruments used globally to control interest payments, manage debt, and enhance investment portfolios?need look no further than Understanding Swaps.

"Jack Marshall and Ken Kapner have done a superb job of providing a complete, easy-to-read primer to derivative products. Using clear language and concise examples, it lays out the world of swaps for the practitioner, student, accountant, lawyer or regulator." ?Robert J. Schwartz EUP and Chief Operating Officer Mitsubishi Capital Markets, Inc.

"Marshall and Kapner have produced an exceptionally cogent description and analysis of the swaps market along with its essential technical and theoretical underpinnings. This book should be number one on the reading list for any student or practitioner of contemporary financial techniques." ?J. Michael Payte Senior Managing Director Bear Sterns & Co., Inc.

"Understanding Swaps details the complete world of swaps: the basics (interest rate and currency swaps), the vogue (equity and commodity swaps), and the future (macroeconomic swaps). Indeed, Understanding Swaps is the book I would recommend to someone for a comprehensive and very readable primer on swaps." ?Carolyn Jackson First Vice President Banque Indosuez